Screaming in Silence
by angelofmercyx
Summary: It's not easy being green. Or mean. Being a zombie in general is a hard life. Perrie hates that she burns to a crisp in the sun, and that humans and animals run in the other direction when spotting her. When she meets a human that for once isn't afraid of her, it causes problems for both her tribe and the human's family. Which side will she pick once and for all?
1. Screaming in Silence

Screaming in Silence

The sun reached the tip of the horizon, sending rays of pink light through the dawn sky. The trees swayed with the soft morning wind, sending chills down Perrie's spine. The mushrooms and wildflowers were springing around with the wind, dotting the grass around her. The sun rose higher, and Perrie started to feel her skin itch, but chose not to flee to her cave out of stubbornness. She wished she was human, able to delight in the beautiful world.

"Perrie! Get your rotten skin back in this cave right now!" Stone, the leader of the Spruce Tribe shouted in his gruff voice.

Perrie turned to see Stone's angry face, with her mother, Ivy standing behind him. Ivy had worry twisting up her graceful face, the only reason Perrie decided to get out of the sun and trudge back to the dark cave.

"What were you thinking? You could've burned to death in that meadow. That hot ball of hell is our enemy." Stone ranted on and on about the stupid sun, and how so many more zombies like them had suffered from this number one enemy. Perrie had only heard it every day, when she liked to sit outside of the tribe cave to watch the sun rise and set.

Her mother laid a hand on Perrie's white-green shoulder and turned her around to meet her eyes.

"Perrie," she said softly. "Remember your brother? I don't want to lose you, too." A single tear slipped from her dark eye, and she quickly wiped it away.

Perrie gave a comforting smile back to her mother. She wasn't going to promise that she was never going to put herself in danger, because she knew she would. But the smile satisfied her mother.

The three of them walked deeper into the cave, their home, as darkness shrouded them like ghosts. Perrie hated the dark, it made her feel like she was blind and lifeless. Which she technically was lifeless, as the other zombies described it, but Perrie sometimes felt like she was different. More ... human. Or maybe the others just didn't show their human side.

The darkness of the wet, cold cave came to an end, as a sliver of light came out of the ground. Stone reached down and lifted up the wooden trap door, then ascended down the ladder. Perrie and Ivy followed. Once Perrie closed the trap door, she slipped down the rickety ladder, glancing around at the tribe's underground zombie village, Spruce. Lanterns and torches lit the walls, and up ahead the cave widened, small huts and houses taking up the space.

Perrie hated the village.

Perrie and her mother weaved around the crowds of zombies, chattering about. The zombies were cold and lifeless, but that didn't mean they didn't have fun. It's just that their version of fun was trading dead humans, and deciding whether to turn them or eat them.

A dark-haired, drunken zombie slapped Perrie on the back, exclaiming, "Aye, you're back, mate! We thought you were gonna burn up out there!" His group of drinking buddies roared in laughter, although Perrie didn't find it that funny at all. They were laughing at her disappearance. Not many other zombies wanted Perrie to stick around, other than her mother. Ivy was the only reason Perrie stayed with the Spruce tribe.

Ivy glared at the drunken men, seemingly burning holes in their bottles, because they backed off. As the two entered their small hut, Ivy sighed and scolded, "When are you going to learn how to become a real zombie?"

Perrie flinched and sat in a stone chair, turning away from her mother. "I hate being a zombie."

Her mother was silent, and Perrie thought maybe she got through to her for once, but as she turned to her mother, she was no longer in the room. Perrie sighed heavily in frustration, and stared at her ugly hands. They were a gross greenish, whitish colour, like the color of mould or moss. Scars streaked her hands and arms, from getting into too many battles with humans and animals. Hunting definitely wasn't Perrie's strength. Apparently burning in the sun was.

At least Perrie's face still resembled a human. Some of the other zombies, especially the worst drunks and the best hunters, had faces that resembled pigs and dogs. She could've been a flirty girl who got all the guys, if it weren't for her loner personality. She'd rather carve pictures into chunks of wood than hang with others her age.

Perrie got up and walked into the other room, curious about where her mother had gone. Ivy lay on the bed asleep, sprawled out like a giant spider. Perfect. Ivy was known for her deep sleeps, which meant Perrie could slip away and do whatever she wanted.

Grabbing her knife and stuffing it in her shorts, Perrie slipped out of the house. Thankfully, their house was on the edge of the village, so she could slip around all the commotion in the plaza. Her hand on the cool wall, she walked past the shabby huts until she reached the underwater lagoon. When Perrie was young, her father would take her there to swim. He'd always tell her that water kept zombies from burning up in the outside world. It was one of the legends, but nobody had the guts to try it. Perrie would be the first someday.

She rolled up her shorts and tied her loose tank top at the waist, wading in the glistening water, lit up with torches along the wall. Her stomach gurgled, reminding her that at last night's hunt, she was working on her private cave she would flee to when it was ready. Which meant she didn't hunt for people or even animals, and she was hungry.

Perrie could feel small fish nipping at her bare legs and ankles. She stepped out of the water and slipped through a crack in the wall, where there was a small chest that held her fishing supplies, including a net, bait, a rod, and different hooks. Some of the zombies looked down on fishing, writing it off as a "human activity", but Perrie found it calming. Tossing the string into the water, and watching the waves, patiently waiting for the nibble, then the bite, then the tug.

After catching a small fish, she skinned it and ate it for breakfast. Well, the other zombies would call now night, but since it was light outside, Perrie liked to call it morning.

She heard footsteps, and crouched back into her hidden spot in the wall. At first, she thought it was another zombie, possibly busting her for not being in her bed like zombie girls should have been at daytime. But knowing all the obnoxious, low voices of her villagers, she didn't recognize this one. It was ... male, possibly. And another low voice was talking back. Was it another pair of zombies wanting to join the tribe?

Or was it a human?

Out of curiosity, Perrie slowly poked her head out of the hole, trying to see who the unfamiliar voices were. She couldn't make it out, because down the underwater stream, it wasn't lit up. All she could see was two lanterns, swaying as the strangers walked closer.

"Oh, look!"

Perrie's heart sped up as she held her breath. What if these were humans, hunting zombies? She wouldn't stand a chance if they had weapons.

"It's an underwater stream."

Perrie let out her breath, leaning back against the stone wall.

"We've worked all day. Mining really takes the life outta you." The one guy said slowly. "Wanna take a break, Jay?"

"Wait, do you see that? It's lit up over there," Jay observed.

Perrie squeezed her eyes shut, praying to the zombie gods that the humans wouldn't come any closer. If they were humans. She brought her knees up to her chest, her palms slick like the fish she just ate.

She could her the splashing of the gurgling stream, and the two wading closer and closer. She grabbed the sharpest fish-hook she had for defense, if they attacked. They kept coming, so she readied herself into a kneeling position.

"I wonder if there's maybe a mining company already down here," the other guy muttered to Jay.

"If there is, that's not stopping me. I'm striking gold one day, maybe even diamond. I can assure you of that," Jay announced confidently.

They came into view, but didn't spot Perrie crouched in the hole. She got a good look at the two humans, one tall with thick, strong build and dark hair, and the other thin and muscular with blonde hair. They both held a pickaxe in one hand and a lantern in the other.

The dark-haired one noticed Perrie first.

"Mother of ghast, it's a fricking zombie," he shouted fiercely, lifting his pickaxe behind his head.

Perrie whipped her fish-hook at his coal-dusted leg, and the man cried out in pain. She flinched as the blonde lifted his pickaxe and cornered her before she could flee. She covered her head with her scarred white arms, huddling into a ball, waiting for the blow. Maybe it would all be over. Maybe she would be happier resting in peace, not having to worry about being a dreaded zombie anymore. Or maybe she'd go to Heaven, where the sun shone all day without burning her to fried rotten flesh.

She waited. But she was never hit. She uncovered herself, and saw that the blonde was looking at her with a glimmer of pity and maybe even understanding in his blue eyes. He was attractive too, better looking than the zombies her age at the tribe. Perrie wondered if it would be possible to run away with him. She knew he would treat her better than the zombies did in her tribe.

"Jay, kill it already! That thing fricking tried to cut my leg off with a fish-hook." The other guy was on the ground, hugging his knee and picking the fish-hook out of his shin. Suddenly Perrie felt guilty for hurting him if she was going to run away with them.

Who was she kidding? Nobody would want a zombie to take care of, having to hide it from other humans and protect it from daylight. It would be too much work. Especially since humans were already terrified of zombies as it was.

Jay looked from Perrie to his friend, seemingly torn. He clearly didn't want to hurt Perrie, which had never happened before. Usually when a human saw her, they'd either run away or get their swords and slingshots ready.

Perrie slowly picked up the fish skin beside her. She slowly handed it to Jay, who stared at the piece of fish.

"The fish might be cool and soothe the cut," Perrie muttered barely above a whisper.

Jay seemed surprised that Perrie could talk. Maybe he listened to the folk tales about how zombies could only moan and grumble. Most zombies did have low voices, but it wasn't like they couldn't form words or anything.

"And, that's not a mining company. It's my tribe of zombies, and they're much more violent than I am." Perrie shrank back under the miners' frightened glares.

"Lies. Kill it," the wounded man hissed.

"Ryder, just back off already. It looks more scared than we are."

Perrie felt a twinge of her sad heart warm up to these humans. Well, not Ryder, but definitely Jay.

"Fine. If you're not going to kill it, then let's go." Ryder got up, snatched the piece of cold fish from Jay, and limped away back through the stream. Perrie didn't like him already, because he was definitely exaggerating the limp.

Jay lingered for a moment, eyes on Perrie. "Thanks." With that, he waded away in the waist-deep water, never turning back.

Perrie sat there for a moment, processing what might have been one of the most dramatic events of her rather lifeless life. She saw the bloody fish-hook on the ground, and washed it in the trickling stream, feeling a pang of guilt for injuring Ryder's leg, no matter how prejudice he was against zombies. Perrie could see his prejudice though, because ninety percent of the tribe were the most violent, crude creatures in the caves.

Perrie journeyed back, untied her shirt and wrung out the bottom. Slipping back into her hut, checking on Ivy to make sure she hadn't noticed Perrie's absence, she laid in her own bed. It took her too long to fall asleep, because all she could think about was Jay, and when she finally fell under, Jay was all she could dream about.

For maybe the first time in the Spruce Tribe, a zombie had fallen for a human.

Which meant that Perrie was going down.


	2. Riot

**Riot**

The roars and cries of zombies raged through the village. They grabbed torches and their liquor bottles, and raged towards the exit. Perrie sat up sleepily in her bed, realizing it was nighttime. The tribe law required everyone to go out and hunt when the sun went down. That meant her.

Climbing out of her bed, she spotted her mother getting her skinning knife and torch. Ivy may have been one of the most beautiful zombies, maybe one of the sweeter ones, but was definitely the toughest when it came to hunting humans.

"Don't stay late this time, Perrie," her mother warned her, a flash of pain and sorrow in Ivy's eyes. Without waiting for a response, she ducked out of the hut.

Perrie clenched her jaw and lit a torch, not to go hunting like the others, but to work on her hideout that would someday be her home. She gathered a knapsack with a pickaxe, shovel and a sharp dagger, then walked out of her temporary home into the nightly riot.

Pushing her way to the exit, and almost getting trampled by fellow zombies, she slipped away once she reached the ladder. Once she was outside, she dashed in a direction far away from the shouting and screaming, and finally found peace. Stars dazzled the night sky like diamonds set in stone, and the mountains in the distance were black in comparison to the navy blue sky. Perrie could hear other monsters creeping and crawling around, hunting for their prey. But creepers, spiders, skeletons and endermen meant nothing to her. Some of the zombies in the tribe rivaled with the other monsters, but Perrie found them useful at times. She once made friends with a young enderman, who also wanted to run away from her clan. Her name was Spark, and she was working on a small cave that would one day be her home. Perrie joined in, and once Spark had been killed by a human, Perrie felt the need to finish the cave, for her.

Navigating her way through the dark, moon-lit forest, Perrie found her hideout. Concealed by a group of tall bushes, the cave had a small opening perfect for someone tiny like her. She crept inside, and her torch lit the small room. There was a bed, a small bookshelf, two chests and some furnaces. Really, she could move in there now, but she never felt ready to leave the tribe, namely, her mother.

She sat on her bed and placed the torch in her handmade wall holder she built from her crafting table. She couldn't stop thinking about Jay, and the way he looked at her, like he knew her. That was the first time she felt like she fit in. The first time she didn't feel like an ugly monster. If only she could see him again, just to see if he was safe from the other monsters and zombies.

She straightened her back. Maybe she could. She didn't have anything to work on that was too important, and she had time to kill from now until sunrise. There had to be a way to see Jay. She couldn't go on alone forever.

Perrie picked up her torch, and exited the hideout, squeezing through the scratchy bushes. The woods were densely populated with trees, and she couldn't see any monsters that were near her. Far in the distance, though, she spotted a light. It wasn't a small light, in fact, it looked like a fire. Uh-oh.

Quicky striding towards the fire that was probably another human village, Perrie pulled her dagger out of the small pocket of her knapsack. This intense, reckless hunt couldn't go on any longer. There were lives at stake, for both the monsters and the humans. Those poor humans feared all the monsters, and Perrie's kind ruined human's lives.

But Perrie's life had been ruined when a human killed her father. This ongoing war was causing too much pain for too many creatures.

Perrie snickered to herself, glad that other zombies weren't able to read minds. If she said these sort of things to anyone in her tribe, they'd probably hang her for treason. Stone would be furious with Perrie for even pitying the humans. Ivy would probably lock her in the house as a punishment.

As she got closer, she could indeed see the village, burning to the ground. Zombies, skeletons, and other monsters were parading around, cheering at the orange flames. They were completely destroying the planet.

_Humanitarian_, a little voice sneered in Perrie's head.

A zombie from her tribe came up to Perrie, and shoved a pitchfork into her hand. "Dig in, mate!"

Perrie felt disgusted as the zombie drunkly joined the ruckus. She noticed the sharp tips of the pitchfork had little pieces of human flesh and blood. Perrie felt sick.

"Ryder, now!" she heard a familiar voice shout.

Perrie whipped her head to her left, where the two men from that morning were battling a giant spider. They each had an iron sword, and were jabbing it towards the beast, but it was too fast, jumping back every time. It hissed at Jay and Ryder, and Ryder was trying to get close to it. A little too close.

The spider pounced, knocking Ryder to the ground. Jay yelled, "Ryder!"

Without thinking or feeling, Perrie bolted in their direction, aimed her pitchfork at the ugly creature, and hit it square in the guts. A dying hiss came out of the spider as it fell limp. A zip of adrenaline raced through Perrie's bones.

Perrie looked up meekly at Jay, whose face told her how shocked and surprised he to see her. She knelt at Ryder's body, checking his pulse. Feeling the steady beat on his wrist, he was still alive.

"Did the spider bite him?" she asked Jay, sounding surprisingly confident.

Jay stood shocked for a moment, then snapped out of it. "I think so." He crouched beside Perrie. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Spider bites have a certain venom that will make him really sleepy for the next couple days. Hallucinations and minor amnesia is common, too." Perrie brushed her thin, wispy hair out of her face. A zombie screamed in joy nearby, not even noticing Perrie and the humans. "Get him out of here."

Jay nodded dumbly, lifting Ryder's body over his shoulder, and following Perrie into the dark, empty woods. Away from the village, fire and madness. Perrie led him to her cave without thinking, and shuffled through the bushes. Jay struggled through, having the weight of a large body on his shoulders.

Once in the cave, Perrie secured her torch into the holder. She turned to Jay, who gently lay unconscious Ryder on the bed. "Why do you trust me?" she blurted.

Jay eyed her cautiously, clearing his throat, but not saying anything.

"I mean, I'm a monster," Perrie mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

"I never said I trusted you."

Her heart fell in her chest. Her face probably fell too, because Jay started to backtrack.

"I mean, I don't trust zombies in general. We'd been taught to fear them." He scratched his neck awkwardly. "But you saved my friend, so I guess you have no intention of killing us."

Perrie looked at the stone ground in shame. "I don't eat humans. Only animals. My tribe hates me for it."

Jay nodded, peering at her. "My village hates all monsters, but only because so many of them destroyed our houses, crops, and out lives. I have a valid reason for hating them."

It was awkwardly quiet for a few beats. Perrie could see the flame roaring in the distance, and all the ugly creatures gathered there, taking advantage of the chaos to eat the unprotected humans. They were probably nice and hot to eat, too. It was like a giant campfire, but instead of roasting fish like humans would, the monsters were roasting humans.

Perrie heard a cough and a groan, and she turned to see Ryder stirring. His face was slightly dusty and charred with smoke, and his leg where the spider bit him was swollen and bloody.

Jay rushed to his side. "Ryder? Can you hear me? Are you awake?"

Ryder opened his eyes, saw Perrie, then shot up. "Zombie! Get it, Jay! It's right behind you..." he trailed off as he grabbed his head and groaned. "Am I hung over?"

"No. You were bitten by a spider," Jay informed him.

"Well, I must be hallucinating. Because if that was a real zombie, then you'd have killed it by now, right? I don't want a zombie watching me sleep."

"Get some rest, alright?" Jay said tiredly.

"Where am I?"

"An old miner's cave. Go to sleep."

Jay didn't have to tell him anymore, because suddenly Ryder was out cold. Perrie glared at Jay's back, angry at him calling it a miner's cave, when it was the cave she and Spark worked so hard on. It was her secret hideout cave that she loaned to Ryder, and she got prejudice and dismissal in return?

Perrie bristled, but swallowed her pride quickly. "Take as long as you need here. Nobody knows about this spot."

Jay smiled stiffly, clearly afraid of Perrie, and worried that his friend wouldn't be okay. He got up, and opened the chest labeled TOOLS, rummaging through Perrie's various tools. He found a bucket, then stood up, letting the chest lid fall shut. "I have to say, I still don't trust you, but I'm getting there. You seem more and more human than zombie."

Perrie blushed. "I'm taking that as a compliment." A compliment was something almost foreign to Perrie. Only when she used to fight humans to fit in, people would compliment her fighting and hunting skills. She had the quick wit and good eye to aim right in the prey's heart. Then the other zombies would learn her self-taught hunting techniques, instead of learning from the drunks who just burned everything to the ground. Some of the guys were even interested in her. But all that popularity stopped when she saw a human cry after she killed his daughter. Perrie couldn't believe the pain he was in, the guilt she felt afterwards, and couldn't handle seeing him suffer emotionally. It reminded her too much of losing her father to a human, and it opened her eyes to the fact that human lives were destroyed by the mobs.

She stopped fighting humans, and her fan base quickly dwindled to nothing. But Perrie was fine with that. She didn't have to deal with the annoying tribe members all the time anymore. She could do whatever pleased her, without worrying what would look good and what would look bad.

"I've thought about running away from my tribe," she admitted quietly. "That's why I have this." She spread her arms out, gesturing to the small cave.

"I don't think I'd be able to handle being a zombie," Jay agreed. "Have you been one all your life or were you turned?"

Perrie thought for a moment. She's been told she was a zombie all her life, conceived by her parents, but she never felt like she was a real zombie. She had human-like emotions. Maybe she just had a weird, unnatural balance of chemicals in her body. "I've been told I was born this way."

The sky outside the cave was turning from black to a purple. Time to go.

"I have to get back to my underground village," Perrie told Jay sheepishly. "There's a book somewhere in that shelf on diseases and infections, if you need to gather some healing berries. And some random novels I found in abandoned villages if you're bored." Perrie started wriggling through the spiky bushes.

"Wait."

Perrie turned her head around.

"I never got your name. I mean, do zombies have ... names? Or-" Jay rushed through his words nervously.

"Perrie."

God, he was so cute when he blushed.


	3. Just Give Me a Reason

Just Give Me A Reason

* * *

**A/N **

**Warning. This chapter has an intense/emotional/gruesome scene. If you can't handle it, move on to the next Minecraft story. Thanks.**

* * *

Perrie entered her village, as all the other zombies filed back in. Some, worn out from the heavy riot, others, buzzed from the adrenaline and excitement. Zombies hauled in their kills, retreating to their huts to eat their meals. Someone shoved Perrie from behind, shooting her forward like a rocket.

"People-lover," the typical zombie-bully hissed. Perrie had gotten used to that type.

Perrie ignored him, getting her footing back.

"Leave her alone, jackass," a familiar voice demanded. That was maybe the first time that another zombie defended her in public. She was the shame of the town, she got used to every insult ever invented. There were even insults named after her. She heard zombies call each other "perries" when they were angry or arguing. "You're such a perrie," was how it was most commonly used.

But someone _defending _her? That was definitely a first.

Perrie turned around to face her bully, and her knight in shining armour. Well, not literally, of course. Zombies couldn't afford armour.

It was Leo, the son of Stone, the tribe leader. He was probably the most popular youth in the village, being son of the commander and all. Perrie and Leo were good friends, until Perrie stopped hunting humans. Leo mysteriously avoided her after that, probably because he didn't want to have his status ruined by the runt of the village. So why was he sticking up for her now?

The bully held a human body over his shoulder. He shook his head, and walked in his hut's direction, clearly not feeling the fight. It was probably a good thing for Leo, because that guy was huge.

Perrie eyed Leo warily. "Why did you do that?" she asked quietly.

Leo looked at the ground in either embarrassment for being around her, or shame for defending her. "Don't ask questions, but I'm sorry, okay?"

"For what?"

"You know." He gave her a meaningful look. "Ditching you when you needed me the most."

Perrie stared at him for a moment. A rush of memories came flooding back. Back when she was popular, she was perfect for Leo. They were practically made for each other, not only as friends, but maybe something more. They were inseparable.

That one day, Leo proved he was different from the other zombies.

* * *

_Dark clouds filled the night sky, concealing the moon. Their only source of light was the two torches they held. They paraded on through the forest, searching for any sign of human life, which meant food for them. If Perrie was completely honest with herself, she didn't really like the taste of human. She preferred chicken or fish._

_Leo and Perrie stumbled across a cabin, shrouded by tall pine trees. They would have missed it, if it weren't for the smoke billowing into the air from the brick chimney._

_"Okay, well, we can't exactly burn down a brick house," Perrie stated, looking at the brown-red bricks stacked as walls._

_"We can break in," Leo suggested._

_"Or ... we can move on to the next wooden house we find." She preferred burning down houses, because that meant she didn't have to kill the humans personally. The fire did it for her. _

_"We've been wandering for a long time, and it's gonna be dawn soon," Leo argued, reaching into his backpack for his dagger. Not waiting for Perrie's answer, he crept up to the door, which was wooden and easy to unlock. Perrie, sighing, followed behind him._

_Leo tried the knob, and it surprisingly wasn't locked. "Stupid humans," he chuckled._

_Perrie didn't want to go inside, because that meant seeing the humans peacefully sleeping, not suspecting a thing. But she couldn't think of an excuse to stay outside, so she followed Leo in. The living room was empty, but Leo followed the sound of snores into a small bedroom, where a husband, wife and daughter were sleeping in one bed. _

_They looked incredibly peaceful._

_"Would you like to do the honours?" Leo asked Perrie politely._

_Perrie curled her lip in disgust, heart violently beating in her chest. "Do you ever think that humans might have feelings? Is it right to take their lives away?"_

_He looked confused. "Sometimes, I guess. But it's right when we have to feed ourselves and the village." He sounded just like his father, Stone._

_"I don't want to do it. You can," Perrie muttered after a second, crossing her arms over her chest._

_Leo shrugged and did the adults in quietly. Slipping the woman's throat was easy, because she didn't get a chance to wake up, but when he got to the man, he woke up. He must have been a very light sleeper, Perrie noted._

_"Holy ghast!" he shouted in shock of seeing two zombies lurking at his bed. He quickly sat up, and grabbed the gun near the bed. Before he got a chance to aim it at either zombie, Leo slipped his throat, too._

_If Perrie thought that was the hard part, she wouldn't be able to bear what came next._

_The precious little girl arose, looking up at the ceiling peacefully. She then noticed the zombies, and fear took over her angelic face. A single tear escaped from her eyes as she whispered, "Mom?" She frantically looked at her mother, shaking her to wake up. "Mommy?" More tears slipped down her cheeks when she saw the line of blood seeping out of her mother's throat._

_She turned to the other side, in despair. "Dad, wake up," she whined, but somehow she knew that her father wasn't going to wake up either._

_Leo raised his dagger, and Perrie grabbed his shirt to stop him. He looked at her incredulously, but Perrie gave him an even, maybe even desperate glaze. Her look seemed to say, "Don't you dare touch her."_

_Leo stepped back, dragging the adult bodies out of the bed, while the little girl stared at Perrie in horror. "What did you do to my parents?" she squeaked, her crying making her voice go higher._

_A tear escaped from Perrie's eye, something that hadn't happened since her father's death. She knew exactly how the girl felt. Someone else, a predator, had killed not one, but both her parents. She would be orphaned, and live to tell the tale of how two zombies killed her parents, but somehow spared her._

_But Perrie couldn't let that happen. Carrying that burden was too much for such a young girl. Where would she go? She was out in the middle of nowhere, far away from any sign of civilization? Perrie's only choice left was to do her in, too. As painful as it would be._

_"Your parents are in a happier place," Perrie said softly, more tears running down her cheeks._

_"Are they dead?" the girl whimpered. "I don't want them to be dead."_

_Perrie didn't move. She didn't want to shake or nod her head. "Do you want to be with them?"_

_The little girl nodded, her chin quivering._

_"I'm sorry," Perrie whispered. She truly was sorry for what she was about to do. Making it painless as possible, she dug her dagger into the girl's chest. The girl opened her mouth in shock, not able to scream. Short, staccato noises escaped her throat, and her big blue eyes widened at the pain. Then, she went limp._

_Perrie retrieved her dagger quickly, wiping the blood off with her shirt and placing it in her belt loop._

_"Did you kill her?" Leo whispered, walking back into the room. "I have the others ready to eat."_

_Perrie didn't say anything, just stared at the blood spilling from the girl's chest. She closed the girl's eyes with her shaky fingers._

_"Perrie?"_

_She stood up, not even acknowledging Leo, and numbly made her way out of the house. When she saw the other bodies, she felt bile rising in her throat. Rushing off to the nearby pond, she vomited her guts out. She felt blind to the world around her. All she could think about was the sadness in the girl's eyes. This was the moment when she truly hated being a zombie._

_Only when the retching stopped, did she notice someone holding her hair back from her face. Leo had her hair in one fist, and had his other hand on her shoulder. Perrie splashed her face with pond water, then slowly stood up. She looked into Leo's eyes, and they were surprisingly filled with understanding. She didn't have to say anything. He wrapped her in a warm, strong hug, as she fell apart, and couldn't stop crying._

_"I hate being a zombie," she whimpered hoarsely._

_"I know."_

* * *

Perrie snapped back to the present, her heart turning to stone. After that night, when Perrie stopped hunting humans with him, he ignored her. Perrie didn't understand. He ghastdamn took care of her that night, never leaving her side until she was safely tucked in her bed. How could he stop caring the next day?

"Why?" Perrie shook her head, her heart jumping around nervously in her chest. She mentally scolded herself for feeling this way around Leo. He broke her heart, after all.

Leo simply stared at her, not wanting to give a reason.

"Either give me a reason now, or there's no chance we'll ever be friends again," Perrie said fiercely.

"I-I can't." He looked at the ground. "I can't say anything. But can you please give me a chance?"

She shook her head. "I guess not."

They both froze when they heard thunder crack above them. That meant rain was coming, and rain meant no sunlight, and no sunlight meant zombies could walk around outside without dying.

"Oh. It's raining. Perfect opportunity to run away," she snipped, brushing past Leo towards the exit. He didn't follow, and when Perrie turned around, he was standing there in shock and sadness.

_Oh well_, Perrie thought. _He broke my heart, so it's only fair I break his._

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews and follows! **

**This chapter is kind of emotional, I know. Especially for zombies. But please give feedback on what you like/dislike about it, feedback on my knowledge (or not) on Minecraft, and maybe if you're on Team Jay or Team Leo so far. :) Thanks!**

**PS. There is a reason I rated this story T. If the one scene was too intense/emotional/gruesome, I apologize. But you've been warned.**


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